Tag Archives: Construction Engineering

After much planning and the steady encouragement of many of our customers, DHC is proud to announce the opening of an office in the greater Seattle area. With main branches in Santa Rosa & San Diego, and satellite offices in Oakland & Sacramento, the Seattle location becomes the 5th for DHC.

This new office is being managed by John Meissner, PE, who is a native of the Pacific Northwest and is excited about the opportunity to meet with many customers personally in coming months.

Even without local branches, DHC has maintained a tradition of effectively servicing contractors throughout the US and Canada, and has developed long-lasting relationships with many of them. Nonetheless, we look forward to the opportunity to meet many new and existing customers in person, and plan to host various training programs and introductory meetings in the coming months and years.

If you would like to learn more about DHC, or to meet in person, please do not hesitate to contact John Meissner, President Jasper Calcara, or General Manager Luke Griffis.

D.H. Charles Engineering, Inc. (DHC) was invited to be a guest lecturer for roughly 120 graduating seniors of the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Structural Engineering department. With an established passion for educating the construction industry in engineering challenges and safety, DHC was more than happy to accept the invitation, and had the perfect candidate to send to the classroom.

Chong Kim, P.E., a senior engineer and alumni of the same program at UCSD, has worked on thousands of construction engineering designs throughout the US and Canada in his career at DHC. He took that experience on a wide variety of projects, and developed a presentation titled Temporary Structures and Construction Engineering Industry, to present to students taking the SE140 course.

The variety of situations and challenges faced on a construction site can be overwhelming, with many codes and design approaches never discussed at the University. Therefore, the presentation narrowed the field of construction engineering and focused in on the following key areas:

Excavation Shoring

Construction Slopes

and Slope Stability Analysis

Tunneling and Boring

Scaffold Structures

Bridge Jacking and Support

Suspended Platforms

Crane and Rigging

False/Formwork

Structural Shoring

Re-shore

Fall Protection

Rebar Cage Stabilization

Most students do not have the real-world experiences that come with time and that are hard to find in text books, so it was important to illustrate each subject area with as much photographs, colorful anecdotes, and challenges that were faced on particular projects.

It was important to Chong that he connected with the students on a personal level, as he could clearly recall sitting in their position all those years ago. He focused on the challenges and fears all young professional faces when starting their first jobs, as well as how to evolve as the their careers take them in different directions. But most importantly, he wanted to exemplify how important it is to continue to take on challenges and overcome their professional and personal fears. Presenting in front of peers was a first for Chong, and something he was very proud of accomplishing.

There were many insightful questions from students throughout the presentation, showing that they were truly interested in and engrossed with the subject matter. The open discussions covered many aspects of construction engineering, codes, loads, workplace environment, as well as general challenges facing engineers in today’s world.

Evoking passion for what we do as engineers is the most important thing an educator can do, and based on the enthusiasm and response of the students, we are hopeful we were able to accomplish this. We want to extend a special thank you to Professor Lelli Van Den Einde, Ph.D. for bringing us into her classroom and organizing the guest lecturer opportunity, and wish the best of luck to the class of 2016!